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The number of parents in the U.S. choosing not to vaccinate their children rose dramatically in the last school year, according to data released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All states require certain vaccines for children entering public school. During the 2025-26 school year, 4.2% of kindergartners, about 155,000 kids, had at least one vaccine exemption, up from 3.6% the previous school year. The vast majority of those exemptions were labeled as “non-medical,” meaning that parents or caregivers were opting out of the shots for personal or religious, rather than health, reasons. Medical exemptions remained stable at 0.2%. (Edwards, 8/17)

Information that links vaccination to healthy aging might encourage more older adults to get recommended immunizations, particularly if they believe doing so benefits their cardiovascular (heart-related) or cognitive (thinking-related) health. (Boden, 8/17)

In some cases, vaccinated people can transmit measles, finds a review and meta-analysis of 33 reports published late last week in Expert Review of Vaccines. “Measles transmissions from vaccinated cases, although relatively uncommon, must be considered in public health investigations, as such transmissions can contribute to outbreaks,” wrote the authors, led by researchers at Public Health Ontario. (Holohan, 8/17)

Even with effective vaccines available, most U.S. adults don't have immunity to either the hepatitis A or B virus (HAV, HBV), according to a cross-sectional analysis, and recent federal vaccine recommendations could push immunity levels even lower. (Rudd, 8/17)

Vaccination was highly effective at preventing death in children hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis caused by rotavirus infection, but its impact on mortality when rotavirus wasn't the culprit was less certain, according to an international retrospective study. (Rudd, 8/17)

More cases have been linked to outbreaks of cyclospora that do not have an identified source, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce, meanwhile, has expanded to two additional states. There have been nearly 14,000 cases of domestically acquired cyclospora confirmed in the U.S. since May this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. That’s well over the roughly 1,180 cases reported from May through August last year. (Bink, 8/17)

Missouri health officials say 1,950 people in the state have now tested positive for cyclosporiasis, an increase of hundreds of cases in the ongoing outbreak of the intestinal illness linked to contaminated iceberg lettuce. The numbers released Sunday afternoon by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services represent a 24% increase from the previous week. Case numbers have gone up steadily this summer as the illness spreads and more people are tested. (Edwards, 8/17)

Although foodborne pathogens have been in the spotlight all summer, another highly contagious virus is picking up steam: coronavirus. After a lull this spring and early summer, COVID-19 infections are ramping up again across the country. As of Aug. 12, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that COVID cases are growing in all 50 states. (Kee, 8/17)

The U.S. recently reached a grim milestone: As of July 23, more measles cases have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention than in any year since 1991. It took less than seven months to blow past the three-decade high recorded last year. This potentially deadly disease is easily prevented. Shots are widely available and, in many cases, free. Still, since the beginning of last year, more than 4,850 people here have been infected, and three have died. Among them were two unvaccinated girls in West Texas whose deaths made national headlines. (Callahan, 8/18)

School starts soon in north-central Colorado and pediatrician Shen Nagel, MD, is bracing for the possibility of a measles outbreak. In some ways this is par for the course. After major holidays and summer breaks, kids bring viruses back to their classrooms, and Nagel sees spikes of flu, respiratory syncytial virus and other respiratory illnesses, among his patients at Pediatrics West, a practice in suburban Denver. (Boden, 8/17)

Early antiviral therapy at home for kids with influenza lowered the risk of related hospitalization, a retrospective case-control study from Taiwan indicated. (Henderson, 8/17)

More than two dozen cases of a rare "flesh-eating" bacteria have been detected in Gulf Coast states, including Florida and Louisiana, so far this year. State health officials say 15 cases of Vibrio vulnificus have been confirmed in Florida and 10 have been reported in Louisiana. Additionally, seven deaths have been reported, including two in Florida and five in Louisiana. (Kekatos, 8/17)

Officials in Louisiana and Florida have reported a combined seven deaths among people who contracted an infection from a dangerous bacteria that can cause a “flesh-eating” disease. Vibrio is a group of bacteria that naturally occur in warm, brackish coastal waters. Most people become infected by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters, according to the Florida Department of Health. Officials say people can also be exposed when open wounds touch contaminated water. (Kaplan, 8/17)

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been found on deer farms in Crawford and Portage counties in Wisconsin, the state’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) announced over the weekend. Both counties had previously reported cases in farm-raised deer, including in a 3-year-old buck in Portage County in October 2025. (Van Beusekom, 8/17)

With a staggering 2,325 deaths, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic of the Congo (DRC) has now killed more people than 2018-20 outbreak, which killed 2,299, making it the country’s deadliest Ebola outbreak ever. (Soucheray, 8/17)

Ebola is reviving suspicions of profiteering in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where distrust over how response money is handled is undermining the community cooperation needed to contain the world’s fastest-growing outbreak. (Gale, 8/18)

Costco sells its dedicated members everything from travel packages to gasoline. Now the retail giant is gearing up to enter a huge new market: Medicare. The warehouse chain plans a limited rollout of Costco-branded Medicare plans, working with SCAN Group, a nonprofit insurer. Nationally, Medicare is a more than $600 billion business for insurers, but the two companies said they would start by selling their jointly named Medicare Advantage products in two states, and a Medicare supplement in a third. (Wilde Mathews, 8/18)

Aetna’s Medicare Advantage strategy for next year is beginning to take shape. The CVS Health subsidiary will not pay commissions to marketers for selling 123 Medicare Advantage plans in 33 states for the 2027 plan year, according to a notice Aetna distributed to third-party marketing organizations last week. The freeze affects policies in nearly 780 counties, about one-fifth of which are located in Georgia. Open enrollment runs from Oct. 15-Dec. 7. Aetna also will not compensate agents and brokers for new enrollments into standalone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, the notice says. (Tepper, 8/17)

Luigi Mangione’s state murder trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which was slated to begin Sept. 8, has been postponed indefinitely as his lawyers seek to have the case thrown out on double jeopardy grounds following his guilty plea last week to federal charges. Judge Gregory Carro issued an order Monday canceling the trial and giving the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the state case, until Oct. 9 to respond to the defense’s double jeopardy claims. (Sisak, 8/17)

Universal Health Services has acquired virtual behavioral healthcare company Talkspace in an $835 million deal. The transaction, which closed Monday, gives UHS the opportunity to offer a more comprehensive set of services, as the company continues to grow its behavioral health segment, UHS President and CEO Marc Miller said. Talkspace brings a nationwide network of approximately 6,000 licensed providers. (Hudson, 8/17)

Health systems are pouring money into capital projects at the highest rate in more than 15 years. Shifting patient demographics are driving increased demand, and health systems are responding with investments in facility expansions, equipment upgrades and new technological capabilities. Viewed as a long-term play, capital spending can strengthen operations and keep systems competitive, even as financial challenges loom. (Hudson, 8/17)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: What Geriatric Emergency Departments Do Differently

It had been a rough few months. Cynthia Tompkins was hospitalized in May for osteomyelitis — a bone infection — then spent six weeks in a rehabilitation facility. “It was a struggle,” she said. “I didn’t bounce back too well.” Tompkins returned to her home in San Diego, but she was still taking antibiotics, along with a host of other drugs for diabetes, pain, and blood clots. The deaths of her husband the previous year and her closest friend more recently had sapped her spirits. (Span, 8/18)

Eyepoint said Monday that patients administered its experimental treatment for a common cause of age-related blindness failed to maintain vision with less frequent injections compared to a standard treatment — meaning a Phase 3 clinical trial had fallen short of its primary goal. The study setback imperiled Eyepoint’s plans to seek regulatory approval for the drug, Duravyu, and caused its stock price to plummet. Shares of Ocular Therapeutix, the maker of a competing eye treatment that will be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration later this year, rose in reaction. (Feuerstein, 8/17)

Not many allergists are mourning the exit of the first and only FDA-approved oral immunotherapy (OIT) product -- peanut allergy treatment Palforzia -- from the market. The standardized peanut protein product had been approved for treating peanut allergy in kids ages 4 to 17 years in 2020 but was discontinued in July. Manufacturer Stallergenes Greer said that safety, quality, and effectiveness weren't to blame for the business decision. (Phend, 8/17)

Opening arguments are set to kick off Tuesday in a pivotal trial for Meta Platforms in a California federal court. Attorneys general from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are seeking extensive financial damages plus changes to how the company operates Facebook and Instagram. Twenty-nine states sued the tech giant in 2023 over child safety and privacy — the other 25 will go to trial later. The company also faces lawsuits in state courts. (Ortutay, 8/18)

OpenAI announced on Tuesday “ChatGPT for Teens,” a new mode in which the chatbot automatically limits some conversations to better protect young users, as scrutiny grows over the harmful effects of artificial intelligence. Many features of the new mode deal with safety, the company said in a blog post. The chatbot will limit high-risk conversations that involve self-harm, violence, eating disorders, and explicit sexual and graphic content. (Kang, 8/18)

For years, Connecticut lawmakers and elected officials have been laboring to understand — and curtail — rapidly rising healthcare costs. They first gathered data to measure annual growth in healthcare spending and established benchmark growth rates. The intent was for insurers and healthcare providers to hew to the benchmark rate or lower, but there was no way to enforce it. (Golvala, 8/18)

Four weeks ago, Matt Johnstone received a call from the board-and-care facility in North Hollywood where his 89-year-old father lives. Health Net, the insurance company that pays for his care, was eliminating its assisted living benefit, meaning he would have to move out soon. Johnstone panicked. His father has dementia and needs around-the-clock care. Neither Johnstone nor his brother can afford the roughly $6,000 per month the facility costs, and with health problems of their own, they can’t safely meet his needs at home either. Without insurance coverage, their father could end up on the streets, he said. (Hwang, 8/17)

Residents of Pennsylvania’s Dauphin County — home of the state capital, Harrisburg, and the chocolaty oasis of Hersheypark — were shocked with unwelcome news in December 2024. For the first time in two decades, the county’s leaders had not only voted to raise their property taxes, but did so by a whopping 22%. What they may not have realized: That higher tax bill was needed to help offset the soaring health care costs of the county’s employees. (Herman, 8/18)

Planned Parenthood’s political action committee says it will spend $600,000 on ads against Sen. Susan Collins — the organization’s biggest ad investment this cycle. Planned Parenthood Votes plans to use the ad campaign to criticize the Maine Republican, who is up for reelection, for voting to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who later supported the high court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade. One of the ads, which has already been available on YouTube, features a Maine woman who said she regrets her vote for Collins. (Herrington, 8/17)

Dr. Evelyn Griffin had led a life out of the spotlight until she testified at the Louisiana statehouse five years ago and experienced what she called her “great awakening.” The state health department wanted to add Covid vaccines to the school immunization schedule, a move no state has ever implemented. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then known as a leading vaccine skeptic, had already claimed the Covid shot was “the deadliest vaccine ever made” during a poster board presentation at the legislative hearing. (Westwood, 8/17)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Drive For Nuclear Power Boosts Uranium Industry — And Tribal Health Concerns In Southwest

On a hot April day, Malcolm Lehi maneuvered his Jeep Wrangler over a rough dirt road past junipers and sagebrush in search of Entrance Spring on land long connected to his tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute. The cool, mossy spring lies just across the highway from White Mesa Mill, the nation’s only remaining conventional uranium mill, which produces yellowcake for nuclear power fuel. (Bailey, 8/18)

More than two dozen Democratic senators called on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to rescind recent grant cancellations by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). "We write to express our profound concern and unequivocal opposition to the recent mass cancellations of lifesaving health research grants" from AHRQ, and the "year-long refusal to faithfully execute" the fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2026 appropriations laws, wrote Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), along with 28 of their colleagues, in a letter to Kennedy. (Henderson, 8/17)

The Trump administration's push to reshore drug development is becoming part of efforts to renew the user fee system that pays for review of new medicines. Why it matters: "America First" incentives the administration is proposing would add a political twist to what's been a bipartisan process, but could gain favor as policymakers look for ways to reduce dependence on China. (Bettelheim, 8/18)

The Food and Drug Administration is considering evaluating generative AI-enabled medical devices through a "competency-based approach," similar to how doctors are evaluated, the agency writes in a discussion paper first shared with Axios. Why it matters: Emerging medical technologies are challenging the existing framework for overseeing medical devices, prompting calls for new approaches. (Owens, 8/18)

The Department of Defense (DOD) has launched a new research program to develop treatments for traumatic brain injuries (TBI). A new program called Selective Harnessing of Intrinsic Neuroplasticity Engineering (SHINE) is pushing through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research arm of the DOD, developing non-invasive tools to "enhance the brain's ability to adapt and rewire itself" when it is injured. (Plummer, 8/18)

A naturally occurring molecule released during exercise may hold the key to strengthening muscles without physical activity. Researchers at the University of Leeds found that a molecule known as L-β-aminoisobutyric acid, or L-BAIBA, plays a key role in helping muscles adapt to exercise. (Gray, 8/18)

Frailty worsened more for individuals with osteoarthritis (OA) affecting two or more joints versus those with single-joint or no OA, data from a long-running, population-based study indicated. (Gever, 8/17)

Extending the shelf life of platelets with refrigeration didn't hurt their hemostatic function for people undergoing complex cardiac surgery, the landmark CHIPS trial found. (Lou, 8/17)

Adding genomic testing to routine newborn screening identified children at increased risk of developing certain childhood cancers, researchers found. By analyzing archived newborn dried blood spots from nearly 2,000 children who later developed a solid or brain tumor by age 8 years, and using a panel of 11 genes linked to pediatric cancer predisposition syndromes, pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants were found in 132 children (6.8%), reported Lisa Diller, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and colleagues. (Bassett, 8/14)

Across the globe, men develop tuberculosis (TB) at substantially higher rates than women. New research suggests that this disparity may have more to do with men's greater risk of becoming infected in the first place than with a greater likelihood of the infection progressing to disease. (Bergeson, 8/17)

People are increasingly seeking to an obtain an ADHD diagnosis without pursuing treatment, according to experts who have called for more research to understand why. Some people now regard ADHD as “an identity, rather than a disorder”, with the result that many obtain assessments from poor quality private providers, which lead them to “believe they have a condition needing treatment”, said the psychiatrist Dr Marios Adamou, the founder of the UK Adult ADHD Network. (Hall, 8/18)

Low- and middle-income countries are often portrayed as the worst offenders of antibiotic underuse, but a new study upends that narrative. (Peter Beyer, 8/18)

I’ve been listening to girls every day for years, and I’ve learned a few things that can help parents, therapists and anyone else who struggles to communicate with young women as they describe some form of distress. (Suzanne Garfinkle-Crowell, 8/18)

Famed bioethicist Arthur Caplan offers eight suggestions to make surrogacy more ethical for everyone involved. (Arthur L. Caplan, 8/18)

Freezing eggs can expand a woman’s options. But it can’t give her control over the one thing she wants most: her reproductive future. (Marcela Garcia, 8/14)